Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. In the United States, food waste is estimated at between percent of the food supply. This amount of waste has far-reaching impacts on society:.
Food loss occurs for many reasons, with some types of loss—such as spoilage—occurring at every stage of the production and supply chain. Between the farm gate and retail stages, food loss can arise from problems during drying, milling, transporting, or processing that expose food to damage by insects, rodents, birds, molds, and bacteria.
At the retail level, equipment malfunction such as faulty cold storage , over-ordering, and culling of blemished produce can result in food loss. Consumers also contribute to food loss when they buy or cook more than they need and choose to throw out the extras See Buzby et al The United States currently does not have a single baseline estimate of food loss and waste.
Instead, two very different measures describe the amount of food loss and waste in the United States:. Neither estimate provides a comprehensive evaluation of food loss and waste in the United States. However, reductions in both these estimates will provide evidence of progress in reducing food loss and waste and the serious environmental impacts associated with landfilling food.
A variety of other data collection efforts across the country will help provide information on other segments of the supply chain. It includes cooking loss and natural shrinkage for example, moisture loss ; loss from mold, pests, or inadequate climate control; and food waste. The best approach to reducing food loss and waste is not to create it in the first place.
The Good Samaritan Food Donation Act , signed into law in , provides legal liability protection for food donors and recipients and tax benefits for participating businesses. However, awareness about this law and trust in the protections it offers remains low. US restaurants generate an estimated 22 to 33 billion pounds of food waste each year.
Institutions — including schools, hotels and hospitals — generate an additional 7 to 11 billion pounds per year. Drivers of food waste at restaurants include oversized portions, inflexibility of chain store management and extensive menu choices. Kitchen culture and staff behavior such as over-preparation of food, improper ingredient storage and failure to use food scraps and trimmings can also contribute to food loss.
Households are responsible for the largest portion of all food waste. There are several macro-level drivers of the food waste problem in the US and globally. One is the difficulty of turning new consumer awareness into action. Public awareness about food waste in the US has improved significantly over the last few years. This is largely due to the efforts of organizations like the Ad Council and their Save the Food campaign, and coverage of the topic from Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, National Geographic, BBC, Consumer Reports and the more than 3, articles written about the issue by major news and business outlets between and — a percent increase over that period.
However, limited data makes it difficult to assess whether this awareness has turned into action and whether or not people are actually wasting less food now than they were before. Homes remain a large source of food waste and more needs to be done to help educate the public and provide people with resources to help them implement food saving practices at home. Another reason why food waste has become such a large problem is that it has not been effectively measured or studied.
A comprehensive report on food losses in the US is needed to characterize and quantify the problem, identify opportunities and establish benchmarks against which progress can be measured. A study of this type by the European Commission in proved to be an important tool for establishing reduction goals in Europe and can serve as a model for US policymakers. Only five percent of food is composted in the US and as a result, uneaten food is the single largest component of municipal solid waste.
Consumer food waste also has serious implications for energy usage. A study by the consulting group McKinsey found that, on average, household food losses are responsible for eight times the energy waste of farm-level food losses due to the energy used along the food supply chain and in preparation. In addition, food waste is responsible for more than 25 percent of all the freshwater consumption in the US each year, and is among the leading causes of fresh water pollution.
First name Last name Email address. Waste Less When You Cook. Cooking Sustainably. Where Is Food Lost? Food Loss in Manufacturing Facilities Most waste at manufacturing and processing facilities is generated while trimming off edible portions, such as skin, fat, crusts and peels from food. What to Know Before You Throw. Food Waste in Restaurants and Institutions US restaurants generate an estimated 22 to 33 billion pounds of food waste each year.
Food Waste in Households Households are responsible for the largest portion of all food waste. Food Spoilage — About two-thirds of food waste at home is due to food not being used before it goes bad. Before COVID, it was estimated 35 million people across America — including 10 million children — suffered from food insecurity.
With so many people suffering who need basic amounts of food, why do Americans waste so much of their food abundance? Getting to the bottom of what causes food waste in America is a challenge that traverses the complex landscapes of socioeconomic disparities, confusion, and ingrained beliefs, layered with human behaviors and habits. Food spoilage, whether real or perceived, is one of the biggest reasons people throw out food.
More than 80 percent10 of Americans discard perfectly good, consumable food simply because they misunderstand expiration labels. Compared to the rest of the world, food in the United States is plentiful and less costly, and often this contributes to a general sentiment of not appreciating or valuing it the way other communities around the globe do. We underutilize leftovers and toss food scraps that can still be consumed or composted.
The good news is that several states across the country are taking action to curb food waste and gain food recovery. Legislators in California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont have passed laws 11 that restrict the amount of food waste going to landfills. According to the Vermont Foodbank, as a result of the new law, food donations statewide have increased 40 percent. There is pending legislation in California, Colorado and Massachusetts that would establish programs to fund private-sector composting and organic collection programs.
In , the New York City Department of Sanitation expanded upon their organics separation rules, proposing that even more food-related businesses would be required to separate organic waste in an effort to keep nearly , tons of wasted food out of landfills each year. The city and state efforts are trickling into US school systems too — both Maine and Rhode Island have introduced legislation to reduce the amount of food waste in schools.
Food that sits decaying in landfills also produces nitrogen pollution, which causes algae blooms and dead zones. According to the World Wildlife Federation, the production of wasted food in the United States is equivalent to the greenhouse emissions of 37 million cars.
If Americans continue on the same path of food loss, the environmental impact could be disastrous. Solving the increasingly growing problem of food waste calls for upstream solutions that dig deep into the root of the problem. So how do we tackle food waste in America? The Grocery Manufacturers Association, the Food Marketing Institute, and Harvard University have combined efforts to streamline expiration labels about the quality and safety of food.
Donate food to food pantries or deliver leftovers to people who may need it. Plan meals and make deliberate grocery store shopping lists. Fruits and veggies with blemishes and flaws still taste the same and are typically a fraction of the cost. Embrace imperfect produce. This not only requires an astonishing amount of plastic packaging and utensils, but it also produces a lot of wasted food.
Recognize that portion sizes differ and order only what you know will be eaten.
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